This invention relates to hydrotherapy and hydrothermal therapy systems and particularly to computer-controlled hydrotherapy systems. Hydrotherapy is the use of water for treatment of disease, stress reduction and recuperation. Hydrothermal therapy additionally uses the temperature effects of water, for example in hot baths, saunas and wraps. For brevity, hydrotherapy and hydrothermal therapy will be referred to collectively as hydrotherapy below.
Hydrotherapy is a traditional method of treatment that has been used by many cultures, including those of ancient Rome, Greece, China, and Japan for centuries. Water is also an important ingredient in Chinese and Native American healing traditions. However, a Bavarian monk, Father Sebastian Kneipp, is credited with re-popularizing the therapeutic use of water in the 19th century in Europe. There are now many dozens of methods of applying hydrotherapy, including baths, showers, saunas, douches, wraps, and packs.
The recuperative and healing properties of hydrotherapy are based on the mechanical and thermal effects of the water and exploit a bodily reaction to hot and cold stimuli, to the protracted application of heat, to pressure exerted by the water and to the resulting sensation. It is thought that the nerves carry impulses felt at the skin deeper into the body, where they are instrumental in stimulating the immune system, influencing the production of stress hormones, invigorating the circulation and digestion, encouraging blood flow, and lessening pain sensitivity.
It has also long been understood that both the temporal application and topical application of water stimuli to the body produces beneficial effects. In particular, the application of water streams with different pressures and temperatures to varying body areas in predetermined time patterns has been found to be beneficial. This fact has long been exploited by spas and resorts that use special shower systems to produce desired effects. Many spas feature “Swiss” showers. A Swiss shower is similar to a regular shower, but it has multiple water streams delivering both hot and cold water so that water of differing temperatures and pressures can be applied to different body areas. The streams are, in turn, controlled by valves that are manipulated by a trained operator. Such shower systems have several drawbacks. First, they require a trained operator to run them. Therefore, they are expensive to operate and cannot easily be incorporated in home bathroom shower systems. In addition, even with training and experience, the trained operator can only operate the valves at relatively slow maximum speed.
Consequently, attempts have been made to replace the trained operator with a computer system that controls the valves in a predetermined temporal pattern. One such system is called a “Silver TAG shower”. In this system, a computer controls valves that can modify both the temperature and pressure of the water streams applied to different body zones. The system uses servo-controlled valves, such as those disclosed in U.S. Pat. No. 5,050,062. Each valve receives both hot and cold water from separate supplies and mixes the hot and cold water via a mixing valve controlled by a stepper motor. The valve also includes a temperature sensor which is monitored by a computer. If the sensed temperature is different from a predetermined set-point temperature, then the computer controls the stepper motor to change the hot and cold water mixture to bring the actual temperature to the set-point temperature. Therefore, the water temperature delivered by the valves can be adjusted to any given temperature between the temperatures of the hot and cold water supplies and the flow rate is also continuously adjustable.
Due to the complexity of the valves used in the prior art system, the installation cost of the overall system is quite high and maintenance is also quite expensive. Thus, while the system may be suitable for spas and resorts, it is generally beyond the means of homeowners who want to install such a shower system in a home bathroom. Consequently, other shower systems have been developed to address the home need. These include shower systems designed and sold by various plumbing manufacturers, such as Kohler and Ondine. These systems use much less expensive valves that receive both hot and cold water and are thermostatically controlled, either mechanically or by a microprocessor. However, these systems generally do not have the capabilities of the more expensive systems. Typically, either all zones receive the same temperature water or only a few zones are used. It is not possible, for example, to apply water of different temperatures and/or different flow rates to different body areas simultaneously.